Death of A Raven Read online

  "I don't know. Only you could answer that."

  "With my father gone, how much chance do you think I have left now?"

  "Your father couldn't give what you need most. The search for a donor will go on even without him."

  "I'm glad you're so optimistic. I wonder if you'd still be if you were in my shoes."

  Serengi took this as a sign that the interview was over.

  Chapter 13

  Saturday Serengi went fishing. What he caught was barely enough for one person. All his cat, Boy, got was one nibble of fresh fish mixed with canned food. Boy lifted his tail and turned away, expressing his displeasure.

  Sunday was spent reconciling two months of checking account statements and searching the used bookstores for a 1960s paperback, The Hunter by Richard Stark. He didn't find it but he didn't come home empty-handed, either.

  Monday his partner Jim Deevers was back. It looked like his parents were out of the woods, both recovering, though his dad would require use of a walker until his hip was better.

  "So what have we got?" Jim asked once he'd settled down after updating everyone with his news.

  Serengi reviewed all he had with Deevers, laying out the crime scene photos and his impressions. While Deevers was checking the photos and preliminary reports, an agent from CCBI called to tell him the latents found at the Raven house matched those from Ron Raven.

  "Okay," Deevers said, let's see if I've got this: You got a daughter whose husband committed suicide because the old man made his life hell, right?"

  Serengi nodded and took a doughnut from the box Jim had dropped on the desk.

  "And you also got a son with no clear motive that we know of yet, but he had opportunity and his prints are there. You say the will divides the estate evenly between the two kids?"

  "Yep. That's what the family lawyer says."

  "And neither kid has a firm alibi. This kid, Ron," to Deevers anyone under forty-five was a kid, "denied calling his father and being there, but here we have these prints. Let's see, this BettyAnn was there Thursday?"

  "Yep."

  "Guess we need to find out how good a cleaner she is. Could be the prints had been there awhile. Finding fish detritus near the front door's a bit fishy." Deevers smiled at his own joke.

  "What we got is sort of weak circumstantial."

  "Yep. But it's all we've got so far. Could be Raven is innocent but denied contact with his father for fear we'd think he did it. Then again, maybe he did."

  "Think we should call him in," Deevers said.

  It took two calls to find Ron Raven. Serengi requested he come up to Raleigh for questioning. When Raven balked: he had clients who were expecting him, da-da-da-da-da-da, Serengi indicated this was a formal, not a casual request.

  "Sounds like I should bring my lawyer then," Raven fished.

  "That's up to you. Couple of questions and the whole thing might be cleared up."

  The cell phone carried the deep rumble of the trawler's engine. "Why not ask them now?"

  "Because we'd like to ensure your privacy. Something that can't be assured with conversations over the airwaves."

  "Uh huh." Raven capitulated and agreed to be there around three.

  At three-thirty Ron Raven, in loose khakis and short sleeved shirt, tanned arms contrasting with a paler face, appeared at Raleigh police headquarters. Serengi took him to an interrogation room and introduced Deevers to him. Deevers leaned over the table flipping pages in a notebook, with one foot resting on a chair seat while Serengi took a seat across from the one he waved Ron to. Serengi started the tape recorder, identified the parties present and the time and began.

  "Sorry to drag you down here like this but we've some loose ends."

  Raven sat back in the chair and nodded, his hands relaxed on the table.

  "When did you say you were last at your father's?"

  "Last week. My sister and I had to go through a few things."

  "No, I mean when before your father died?"

  "Not for a couple of weeks."

  "You sure about that?"

  "Of course, I'm sure." Raven glared at Serengi then looked towards the window, a crease appearing at the side of his mouth.

  Deevers flipped back a page in the notebook then glanced at Raven. "That's strange, because we have evidence of you being at that house just around the time your father died."

  "What evidence?"

  "Convincing evidence. Why don't you tell us what happened? Look, just because you were there doesn't mean we think you went there to kill him. But it doesn't look good, you lying to us about the phone calls and now this."

  Raven shifted in his chair and clasped his hands.

  Serengi and Deevers waited.

  Raven glanced briefly at Deevers then down at the table. "Yes, well, you're right. I was afraid you'd take it out of context. I did stop by. I wanted to pick up some old photos. I spoke to my father for only a few minutes. He was alive when I left."

  "What time was that?" Deevers asked, leading the way.

  "I don't know." Raven looked down at his hands for a moment then met Deevers eyes. "I've been trying to remember. Sometime around two. I wasn't there long, maybe twenty minutes."

  "You got any proof of that? Did you stop for gas or do anything besides see your father?"

  "No. I came up here and went right back home."

  "You didn't stop to see your sister?"

  "No."

  "Now why would that be? You aren't up here that often, are you?"

  "I saw her like two weeks before. I know she gets tired and I didn't want to just drop in on her like that."

  "Is there that formal a relationship between you two?"

  "You have to understand my sister's condition. She tires easily. I didn't want to over-stress her."

  Right, Serengi thought. Mighty considerate.He glanced at Deevers who gave a brief nod. His turn. He popped a question. "What'd you do at your father's house?"

  "I just told you. Picked up the photos, spoke a few minutes to my father, then left."

  "Where did you go in the house?"

  "Upstairs to my room and to the living room."

  "What'd you and your father talk about?"

  "My sister."

  "He was upset, wasn't he? From what we've learned of him, he could be a little rough. He was wasn't he?

  "No."

  "He didn't come down on you about your not being able to be a donor?"

  "I told you about that. Hey, my father may have been the end-all-and-be-all of Raleigh but there are some things even he had to admit he couldn't fix."

  "What is it again that prevents you from being a donor?" asked Deevers taking over again.

  "Hepatitis. I'm sure it's in your notes." Raven smiled and leaned back in his chair.

  "Then why was your father so angry? I understand he did some shouting at you that day." Serengi kept the pressure on.

  "Who told you that? It's a lie." When he got no response, Raven continued. "Besides, you know that neighborhood. The houses are too far apart to hear anything."

  Serengi smiled. "Not far enough when it's spring and the windows are open. Voices carry on soft air. Any one walking around their property nearby would hear. Maybe not all the words, but enough." True enough, Serengi thought, if someone had actually been out walking around.

  "Just because my father couldn't do anything about it doesn't mean it didn't upset him. He ranted about the health system and why it's so tough to find a donor."

  "He didn't blame you, then?"

  "Why would he?"

  "Wasn't it your fault you got hepatitis?"

  "Come on! Any one can get hepatitis you eat the right, or should I say, wrong, food."

  "I agree. That's what doesn't make sense."

  "What do you mean?"

  "Your father was a smart man. Surely he knew that. So why was he so angry at you? And why all the secrecy about your hepatitis?" Sereng
i looked at Raven as if inspecting him, noticing the paleness of skin, the slight facial moisture, and a small brown patch just below the right ear. "You know, you really don't look well."

  "I'm not. Which is why I'm leaving." Raven pushed his chair back and stood.

  "Do you need a doctor?"

  "No. Got my own. Just need some air."

  Serengi didn't want him to leave but without charging him, they couldn't really keep him. And the kid did look bad. Like he was on his last legs. Like he had a terminal illness or something.

  "I guess he took it hard then. Your disappointing him. Again."

  Muscles twitched in Raven's cheek but he didn't rise to the bait.

  "Actually, it looks like your sister Virginia had a lot more reason to be angry at your father. I guess we'll be calling her in next."

  Raven held the door opened as he turned back to respond. "Ah, come on! Don't you think Ginny has enough on her mind just trying to survive? No way she had anything to do with it. It takes all her strength just to eat."

  "It doesn't take much to pull the trigger of a .38."

  "You're way off, Detective." Raven let the door go and walked away.

  Chapter 14

  Deevers grabbed a soda from the machine. "There were some neighbors who weren't home when you were out there. Bet they'll be home tonight. Let's try to catch a few or do you have something on for tonight?"

  "Geez. I knew it. You'd come back in a workaholic mood and want to run all night."

  "Better than dealing with my ex, don't you think?"

  "You could be out looking for a replacement."

  "I'd rather charm a snake."

  After a quick dinner they began checking with those neighbors of Raven who had not been available earlier. On the third stop they had a hit. A woman towards the end of the street who'd been walking her dog that Saturday night around seven had seen Virginia Raven-Howland drive up to the house.

  "Did you see the driver or just the car?" Serengi kept his voice even.

  "Both. The car first of course, but then the driver as it passed me. I waved but she didn't notice."

  "Are you certain it was Mrs. Howland? Did you see her from the side or front?"

  "Yes, I'm sure. I had to stop so she could make the left turn into her driveway. It was Virginia."

  "Do you know how long she was here?" Deevers asked.

  "No. I really didn't pay much attention after that."

  "Why do you think it was Saturday that you saw her?" Serengi asked.

  "Why because I was having a few friends over later and since I hadn't seen Virginia in a while, I thought for a moment maybe I should ask her over. But she didn't stop and it's so far up the driveway, I thought maybe I'd call when I got home."

  "Did you?"

  "No. I forgot." She smiled ruefully. "It's so easy to get distracted. Before I knew it everyone was here and it wasn't until much later I remembered."

  They had no other hits at the other stops, but what they had was a heavy one. "You know," Deevers began on the way back towards downtown, "that puts Virginia Howland on the scene within the time frame the murder could have happened."

  "If it was her. I don't know. Raven usually ate dinner by 6:30. Unless he changed his eating habits," Serengi replied. He didn't like this. The rubber balls were bouncing everywhere except back into the box.

  "Don't you think this witness is credible?"

  "Ever notice how sometimes you can't see who is behind the wheel when a car is coming towards you and you're off standing to the side?"

  "Is this another of your wild analogies, Serengi?"

  "No, a comment."

  "Yep, but this lady says she saw the driver from both front and side."

  "At dusk, while probably impatient to get home and probably with a little yapper to end all yappers. She's gonna be paying attention? My foot. She could be mistaken," Serengi persisted.

  "Who knows? Maybe the dog recognized her. Whatever. You're hinging your doubt on what? The fact that Raven usually ate at 6:30 and this woman says she saw Virginia at seven? One: how do you know Raven didn't decide not to eat, and two: seven's a guesstimate.

  "How's this for a scenario? The daughter, having one of her stronger moments decides to pop in on dear ol' dad. They talk, he says something that reminds her of her dearly departed, she gets angry, loses it and pops him one. Make that two. Then she clears out and goes home and collapses. Time goes by and now she's afraid to admit it so she keeps quiet."

  "You left out a couple a things," Serengi said grabbing onto the dash as Deevers rammed the horn and slammed on the brakes to avoid a red Jeep loaded with four kids darting out from a side street onto Glenview. The driver of the Jeep waved gaily and sped on down the road.

  "Yeah?"

  "Yeah. Like where'd the gun come from? Did she levitate her way through the house? No fingerprints, remember? And, if she wanted revenge for her husband, why wait more than three years? Especially when he's beating the bushes with ads and media pleas for a donor for her?"

  "Hey, that's what we're going to find out. You feel like stopping for one? Couple a places up past the mall," Deevers said.

  Serengi had nothing but a cat waiting at home that'd rather Serengi gave him the run of the house than be there to harass him. Especially if there were no goodies to be had. "Let's do it."

  Chapter 15

  Tuesday morning Serengi stopped at headquarters. He put in a requisition for the telephone records of Virginia Howland covering a week from the Monday before to the Monday of the discovery of her father's body.

  By Thursday they had the records. Those from the weekend of the murder were of most interest. Mrs. Howland had called her father in the morning as she'd already told them. Two more calls appeared around five P.M., each for no more than a minute. At 8:10, she'd called her brother's home number. That took two minutes. And again at ten.

  Deevers checked Ron Raven's phone records and found a call to his sister made shortly before midnight and another on Sunday.

  They laid down a timeline and meshed it with what they knew, starting Saturday morning:

  10 A.M. Ron Raven calls his father's house

  2 P.M. - 2:30 Ron Raven said he was at father's house

  2:30 P.M. - 4:30 P.M. Virginia Howland alone; Evans shopping.

  3 P.M. - Virginia RH says spoke to father. (no record)

  5 P.M. - Virginia RH calls father; 1 min.

  6:15 P.M. Virginia RH calls father; 1 min.

  7 P.M. - Virginia RH seen turning into father's driveway.

  8 P.M. - Virginia RH calls Ron R., 2 min call

  10 P.M. - Virginia RH again calls Ron R. 2 min

  11:57 P.M. Ron R. calls Virginia; 50 minute call.

  What first popped out to Serengi was the time of Virginia Raven-Howland's calls to her father's house on Saturday. She'd told Serengi she thought she'd spoken to him around 3. The records indicated the first completed call to his house being at 5 P.M. when she made a one minute call and then again shortly after 6. A one minute call was either a quick 'hello' or an answering machine pick-up. They'd checked John Raven's machine and had found nothing. Could she have called, gotten the answering machine, establishing a phone company record, and then hung up without leaving a message?

  "What's the story on this Evans woman? She live there or something?" Deevers pointed to the 2:30-4:30 note.

  "I don't know. That's something I'll have to find out. She did say something that made me think she doesn't stay. I'm not sure what her role is other than she's employed by Mrs. Howland."

  "Take a look," Deevers said, pointing to the timeline. "Looks like something got up Howland's butt around 5 and set her off. All these calls to her dad's house, the drive over, and then the calls to Ron."

  "Um, it does form a pattern of something being wrong."

  "Now, she could have gone over there and done him in, then panicked and began calling her brother; or, she could have gone over there, found
him already dead, figured it was her brother who did it, and come home and began calling."

  "Either or, that's true," said Serengi. He pondered the paper and what it said. "You know, that might explain why she said she spoke to her father at three on Saturday. If Ron told her he'd been there between 2 and 3, maybe she was trying to give him an alibi by saying she'd actually spoken to her father."

  "Shall we?" Deevers motioned towards the doorway.

  "You driving?"

  "Yeah. Why?"

  "Let me grab some extra padding in case I hit the dashboard or something," Serengi reached under his desk for some old Styrofoam packing he'd thrown underneath three months ago. It was still there, the guys from the other shifts who used the desk hadn't bothered with it. He carried it as far as the hallway before dumping it in a trash can.

  Mrs. Howland answered the door just as they were getting ready to give up. Dressed in shorts and a bright flowered short sleeve blouse, she didn't look as pale as on other visits.

  "Detective Palmer. I wasn't expecting you. You caught me out on the patio enjoying some of the early Spring weather before the humidity rolls in." She held the door open for both men.

  "Why don't you come out back. I have some iced tea if you'd like."

  "No, thanks, Ma'am," Serengi said as they followed her through the house. He noticed her legs appeared swollen.

  "This is Detective Deevers, Mrs. Howland. He's joining me in the investigation and there are a couple of items he asked about that I just forgot to make a note of. If you wouldn't mind?"

  "Oh, no, Detective Palmer, that won't be a problem." She led them to a glass table set with a tray containing an iced tea cooler. Four wrought iron chairs with thick pads were arranged around the table. A glass of iced tea and an opened Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine placed face down indicated where Mrs. Howland was sitting. Print! Old school, thought Serengi. She motioned them to take a seat. "How can I help you? Deevers, is it?"

  "Yes, Ma'am, Detective Deevers. I was wondering about Miss Evans. I understand she works for you? Does she live here?"

  Mrs. Howland laughed with a short quiet chuckle. "No, she doesn't live here. She's my go-fer, if you will, on the days when I have treatments. I usually come back feeling pretty awful. So, she's here until about five, five-thirty, to get me anything I might need and keep visitors away while I rest."